Positive affect and health-related neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and inflammatory processes

TLDR

Negative affective states such as depression are linked to premature mortality and increased risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and disability, while positive affective states are suggested to be protective but the underlying pathways remain poorly understood. In middle‑aged adults, higher positive affect was associated with lower cortisol output, reduced heart rate, and attenuated fibrinogen stress responses, indicating that positive well‑being directly relates to favorable neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, and inflammatory profiles independent of age, gender, socioeconomic status, body mass, smoking, and psychological distress.

Abstract

Negative affective states such as depression are associated with premature mortality and increased risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and disability. It has been suggested that positive affective states are protective, but the pathways through which such effects might be mediated are poorly understood. Here we show that positive affect in middle-aged men and women is associated with reduced neuroendocrine, inflammatory, and cardiovascular activity. Positive affect was assessed by aggregating momentary experience samples of happiness over a working day and was inversely related to cortisol output over the day, independently of age, gender, socioeconomic position, body mass, and smoking. Similar patterns were observed on a leisure day. Happiness was also inversely related to heart rate assessed by using ambulatory monitoring methods over the day. Participants underwent mental stress testing in the laboratory, where plasma fibrinogen stress responses were smaller in happier individuals. These effects were independent of psychological distress, supporting the notion that positive well-being is directly related to health-relevant biological processes.